Closed petition Publish the Russia report
Lift the restriction on publishing the report on Russia’s spying activities against the UK and its attempts to penetrate the British establishment. This will require the re-establishment of the Intelligence and Security Committee so that it can be immediately published.
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The timing of the suppression of the Russia report in November 2019 was far too convenient for the present government which won an increased majority in the elections in Dec 2019. Questions were being asked about why, since it had already been cleared by the Prime Minister, had it not been published before the election. The continuing suppression of the report is doing nothing to raise the confidence of the British people in the integrity of the electoral process.
This petition is closed All petitions run for 6 months
The Petitions Committee decided not to debate this petition
Because it has not been possible to debate this petition to date, and the issues raised by this petition have been acted on by the Government and considered by the Committee and in the House of Commons in other ways, the Committee has agreed not schedule this petition for debate.
Government responded
This response was given on 19 March 2020
The Prime Minister cleared the ISC’s Russia report on 13 December 2019. The Russia Report is the property of the ISC and is for them to publish once the normal reappointment process is complete.
Read the response in full
The Government welcomes the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament’s (ISC) Inquiry into Russian activity against the UK. This is an important subject which has clearly captured the public interest.
ISC reports must go through a number of clearance processes before publication. This includes the Prime Minister carefully ensuring that reports do not include material that would undermine the work of those who protect our national security, a vital and statutory obligation as set out in the Justice and Security Act 2013.
The former Committee - former because all ISC members stood down at the dissolution of Parliament for the December 2019 General Election - submitted the report for final clearance to the Prime Minister just before the General Election. The Prime Minister carefully considered the report and provided clearance following the election purdah period on 13 December 2019.
The Russia report remains the property of the ISC and it is for them to publish ISC reports. The ISC is regulated by the Justice and Security Act 2013. Section 3(6) provides that the “ISC must lay before Parliament any report made by it to Parliament”. The effect of taking a report to Parliament is to place it in the public domain, this is a statutory requirement, which can only be completed by a sitting ISC.
Once the new Committee has been re-appointed, it will be for the ISC to decide when the Russia report should be published. Members of the ISC are appointed by Parliament having been nominated by the Prime Minister in consultation with the Leader of the Opposition. The new Committee is being formed in the normal way and at the normal pace. Following the 8 June 2017 General Election, the Committee was appointed on 16 November 2017.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
Related activity
Petitions Committee requests update on the establishment of the Intelligence and Security Committee
The Chair of the Petitions Committee, Catherine McKinnell MP, has written to the Prime Minister to ask for an update on the establishment of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC).
The Russia report is the property of the ISC, so this Committee needs to be established in order for the report to be published. The Government's response to this petition, which was given in March, stated that the new Committee was being formed in the normal way and at the normal pace.
The Chair of the Petitions Committee has highlighted the now more than hundred thousand signatures this petition has received, and urged the Prime Minster to expedite the establishment of the Intelligence and Security Committee, so that this report can be published.
You can read the letter from the Chair of the Petitions Committee to the Prime Minister here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1795/documents/17475/default/
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Intelligence and Security Committee to publish Russia Report
The newly-established Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has confirmed it will publish the report of its predecessor Committee into alleged Russian interference in UK elections on Tuesday 21 July.
You can read the report here: https://docs.google.com/a/independent.gov.uk/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=aW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuZ292LnVrfGlzY3xneDo1Y2RhMGEyN2Y3NjM0OWFl.
Petitions Committee agrees not to debate petition calling for publication of Russia report
The Petitions Committee (the group of MPs that looks at petitions submitted on petition.parliament.uk) would normally debate petitions that secure more than 100,000 signatures.
However, petitions debates normally take place in Westminster Hall, the second Chamber of the House of Commons, and sittings in Westminster Hall were suspended in March because of Covid-19. This means that the Petitions Committee has been unable to schedule debates on petitions over 100,000 signatures in the usual way.
The Petitions Committee wrote to the Prime Minister in July to ask for an update on the establishment of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC). You can read the Petitions Committee’s letter here: https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/1795/documents/17475/default/
The Intelligence and Security Committee has now been established, and has published the report on Russia agreed by the previous Committee. You can read the report here: https://docs.google.com/a/independent.gov.uk/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=aW5kZXBlbmRlbnQuZ292LnVrfGlzY3xneDo1Y2RhMGEyN2Y3NjM0OWFl
Because it has not been possible to debate this petition to date, and the issues raised by this petition have been acted on by the Government and considered by the Committee and in the House of Commons in other ways, the Committee has agreed not schedule this petition for debate.
We have published the following petition, which you might like to sign:
Order an official probe into potential Russian interference in the EU referendum: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/332293